This invention relates to a practice racket as might be utilized in practicing games such as tennis and the like. The central stringed area of a conventional tennis racket, often referred to as the "sweet spot" is the most desirable area with which to contact the game ball in play. Accordingly, practice with a conventional racket makes it extremely difficult to determine whether or not the ball had been impacted at such most desired central location. In an attempt to remedy this situation, several practice racket constructions have been devised including those shown in the following U.S. Patents: No. 3,503,611 issued Mar. 31, 1970; No. 3,820,785 issued June 28, 1974 and No. 4,032,142 issued June 28, 1977.
Of such prior art constructions, the '611 patent shows a practice racket wherein the strings thereof have been removed from the frame and a cover in turn having a central opening, disposed thereover. This opening communicates with a pouch such that, the ball, if properly "struck", will pass through the central opening and be captured within the pouch. The obvious problem in such a construction is that the practice racket is one-sided, i.e. one would have to shift or keep shifting one's grip on the racket so that the pouch would be disposed to the rear of the opening in both forehand and backhand shots. The '785 patent positions a masking device or cover over the strings on both sides of a conventional tennis racket. The device includes a central opening such that desired contact of the ball with the desired central portion of the racket will apparently be discerned by differences in sound and resultant ball trajectory. The '142 patent utilizes a frame having a net on one side and string means on the other side thereof such that a ball may pass through the string means, but not the net so as to be caught by the racket between the net and string means.
The above citation and discussion of the preceding prior art patents constitutes applicant's Prior Art Disclosure. The constructions represented by such patents, while providing desirable end results do not, however, sufficiently distinguish between the execution of acceptable and preferred practice strokes.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a practice racket which dramatically distinguishes between the execution of poor or average and preferred practice strokes. It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a practice racket which indeed dramatically demonstrates correct execution of a preferred practice stroke.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a practice racket which enables the difficulty of a preferred practice stroke to be varied such that increasingly difficult practice sessions may be achieved.
A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a practice racket of the aforementioned type in which minimal constructional modifications are made such that the realistic feel and appearance of an actual game racket is retained during use of such practice racket.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by the provision of a practice racket having a handle and a peripheral frame attached thereto. Instead of the conventional string, the frame is provided with at least one insert which in turn defines a practice impact area within the frame adapted to contact the ball upon execution of average or undesirable practice strokes. The insert is in turn provided with a central opening of an extent materially larger than the game ball and corresponding to the size and position of the preferred contact area, i.e. "sweet spot", such that when a player properly executes a preferred practice stroke, the game ball will entirely pass through said opening without touching the racket. In this way then, the absence of the racket touching the ball dramatically illustrates the execution of a preferred practice stroke.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.